Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (WUTH) is an
NHS Foundation Trust
A foundation trust is a semi-autonomous organisational unit within the National Health Service in England. They have a degree of independence from the Department of Health and Social Care (and, until the abolition of SHAs in 2013, their local s ...
. It provides
healthcare
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
for people of the
Wirral Peninsula
Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to t ...
and the surrounding areas of
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
and
North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
.
The trust is responsible for
Arrowe Park Hospital
Arrowe Park Hospital is a large, acute hospital, located on a 15-acre (6.1 ha) section of Arrowe Park, close to the village of Upton, Wirral, Merseyside. It is one of three hospitals managed by Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation ...
,
Clatterbridge Hospital
Clatterbridge Hospital is a general hospital located on Clatterbridge Health Park in Bebington, Wirral, England. It is managed by Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital has its origins in the accommod ...
, and
Wirral Women and Children's Hospital
Wirral Women and Children's Hospital is located on the Arrowe Park Hospital campus, in Upton, Wirral, Merseyside and was founded following a redevelopment of the maternity and gynaecology wing of Arrowe Park Hospital. Although now considered a ...
. It also provides some services at St Catherine's Health Centre,
Tranmere and Victoria Central Health Centre,
Wallasey
Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...
.
History
The Trust was established by The Wirral Hospital National Health Service Trust (Establishment) Order 1990, coming into force on 21 December 1990. It received ownership of health assets from
Wirral Health Authority, including sites at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge, as a result of The Wirral Hospital National Health Service Trust (Transfer of Trust Property) Order 1992, coming into force on 5 June 1992.
Prior to gaining teaching accreditation and authorisation as a Foundation Trust status in 2007, the trust was known as Wirral Hospital NHS Trust.
The Wirral Women and Children's Hospital was founded in 2011 following redevelopment of the maternity annexe on the Arrowe Park campus.
Performance
NHS Improvement (including Monitor)
In March 2012, the UK health sector regulator,
Monitor
Monitor or monitor may refer to:
Places
* Monitor, Alberta
* Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States
* Monitor, Kentucky
* Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States
* Monitor, Washington
* Monitor, Logan County, West ...
, found the trust was "persistently failing" the 18-week waiting time target. It also had concerns about the way the board was run. Chief executive, Len Richards, had already left the trust in August 2011 following a
vote of no confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
. His replacement, David Allison, joined the trust in April 2012. Since Mr Richards' departure, all of the previous Executive Board members have left. The last, Sue Green (director of human resources), was made redundant following a restructure of the senior management team.
In February 2013, Monitor reported that "significant improvements" had been made in reducing waiting times for patients needing routine surgery with the Trust consistently achieving the standard for referring patients for treatment within 18 weeks. Monitor also recognised the "important improvements" made by the Board of Directors in the way the Trust is run and engages with clinical staff. As a result of this Monitor concluded in February 2013 that the Trust was longer in breach of its terms of authorisation. In November 2013, Monitor opened a new investigation into the trust's financial performance. That investigation was concluded in 2014, with the report from March of that year noting that "the trust is working hard to address our concerns about its finances and these improvements are already happening".
CQC
In December 2013, the
Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England.
I ...
published a report into satisfaction of maternity services across England. Wirral Women and Children's Hospital was named in the Top 7 in England and the No 1 in North West England for patient care.
In January 2014, the Care Quality Commission published a report into the standards of care at Arrowe Park Hospital. The report stated that the hospital had met all six measures for delivering 'standards you have a right to expect' in hospital care.
A&E performance
In March 2018 it was the sixteenth worst performer in A&E in England, with only 63.2% of patients in the main A&E seen within 4 hours.
Management
In May 2014
Frank Field MP alleged that close relationships between senior members of the Wirral
Clinical Commissioning Group
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were NHS organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in each of their local areas in England. On 1 July 2022 they were abolished and replaced by Integra ...
(CCG) and the Trust may have dented the "independence" and "integrity" of local health services. Writing to the
Secretary of State that "Arrowe Park has a long history of not being able properly to manage its budget. It regularly looks around for further funds to which it demands almost immediate access but is unprepared to make any efforts at reforming its own practices. Closures, sackings and loss of patient services has been its traditional negative stance. The CCG therefore has the near impossible task of winning reform in the face of these negotiating tactics."
As a result of this complaint, NHS England launched a Capability and Governance review of the Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group. Published in August 2014; the review found evidence of a "poor relationship between the CCG and Wirral University Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust". As result, both the Chair of the CCG, and the CCG's
Chief Clinical Officer
A clinical officer (CO) is a gazetted officer who is qualified and licensed to practice medicine.
In Kenya the basic training for clinical officers starts after high school and takes four or five years ending on successful completion of a one-y ...
resigned in December 2014; having already voluntarily stepped aside in the May of that year.
In December 2017 David Allison, the chief executive, left with immediate effect after four executive directors had complained to
NHS Improvement
NHS Improvement (NHSI) was a non-departmental body in England, responsible for overseeing the National Health Service's foundation trusts and NHS trusts, as well as independent providers that provide NHS-funded care. It supported providers to ...
about the misrepresentation of executives’ views to governors and a culture of staff not speaking up because they believed the trust chair Michael Carr was unwilling to act. A subsequent NHSI investigation was carried out which identified governance issues and a breakdown of communication between all elements of the Board. Palaniappan Saravanan, a consultant cardiologist was dismissed for gross misconduct in November 2017.
In February 2018 Dr John Coakley, who was formerly medical director at
Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust based in London, England, which runs Homerton University Hospital.
History
The trust was established as Homerton Hospital NHS Trust on 24 December 1994, and became operatio ...
, resigned as a non-executive director, a position to which he was appointed in July 2017. It was reported that "There has been a total and complete breakdown of relationships and governance".
Global Digital Exemplar
In September 2016, the trust was selected by
NHS England
NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the ...
as one of twelve
Global Digital Exemplar
The Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) programme is an NHS England initiative to achieve digital transformation in selected exemplar organisations and to create a knowledge sharing ecosystem to spread learning from these exemplars. The programme is to e ...
s.
See also
*
List of NHS trusts
This list of NHS trusts in England provides details of current and former English NHS trusts, NHS foundation trusts, acute hospital trusts, ambulance trusts, mental health trusts, and the unique Isle of Wight NHS Trust. , 217 extant trusts empl ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
NHS foundation trusts
Medical and health organisations based in Merseyside